


Tech Tech on my Mind

by PuffPuff_the_Puffer



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Appreciate this mess, Attempt at Humor, Because i thought it'd be fucking hilarious to have Mark as an actor, Chenle x Everyone, Help, High School AU, Honestly this is a mess, I didn't sleep for this shit, I swear, M/M, My Dolphin boi needs to be appreciated, Renjun is a techie, So is Chenle and Jisung, Swearing, Tags will be updated as I write this shit show, The rest of NCT are here, The rest of the dreamies are actors, Theatre AU, i don't make the rules, so am I, these tags are a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-04-24 05:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14348568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuffPuff_the_Puffer/pseuds/PuffPuff_the_Puffer
Summary: The Spring musical is coming up... and Chenle could care less. He may have Technical Theatre as an elective but he wasn't interested in becoming a techie. That is until Renjun practically begs him to join him in the downward spiral of shit that is theatre.Or alternatively, Chenle is forced into theatre and learns what it means to be a techie.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As a techie myself I need to vent out my frustrations with theatre, and what BETTER WAY TO DO THAT THEN FORCE MY SUFFERING ONTO THE NCT KIDDIES. I feel bad for them but you know, its either me or them so *shrugs*

Chenle didn't imagine he'd start his day out with Renjun before him, begging on his knees,with his hands pressed together in what one would describe as a desperate pose.

“Please LeLe, we don't have many techies and you're the only person I know who'd be willing to do this.” Renjun practically keens at him, his dark brown eyes becoming bigger every passing second that Chenle fails to respond.

So he scoffs, glutural and bouncing of the walls of the cafeteria where they currently reside for lunch, Jisung at his side, scarfing down his rice. _Lucky bastard didn't have to deal with Renjun making a scene in front of the whole student body._

Chenle scans the room finding no one bothering to look in the direction of his _over dramatic_ friend. _Huh, guess people grew used to his friend's antics by now that they don't even bat an eyelash at Renjun kneeling on the dirty floor--_

“Please, please, _please_ with a cherry on top, I promise you won't regret it~”

Chenle had quite enough of Renjun making an absolute fool of himself. “ALRIGHT. Alright! Get off the disgusting floor already!” He raised his voice as promptly pulled Renjun by his arms into a seat at their lunch table. _Like a normal human being_.

“I'll do it.” Hesitation laced his voice as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, gripping his ash-auburn locks in the process.

And added an “If it gets you to shut up.” for good measure.

Renjun burst into a beautiful smile, his canines in clear view of anybody in a 10 mile radius of his blinding show of teeth as he grapples Chenle into a embrace, almost knocking him out of his seat. Chenle could do nothing but take the brunt of the so called “embrace” more akin to an anaconda squeezing the life out of its prey instead of a hug out of pure joy.

Chenle rolls his eyes, “I can't believe that you're my hyung."

“Yah! I'm older than you by a year! You better respect your elders.” Renjun says as he pinches Chenle’s cheek, the sensitive skin already turning red from the amount of pressure he'd put on it in his fit of annoyance.

“Uncle!” Chenle cries as he repeatedly taps the table frantically, “Hyung, let go!” He hates to admit it but Renjun can have a surprisingly strong grip when it benefits him.

Renjun grins, “Not until you admit that I'm the coolest person in the whole wide world.”

“I'll only admit that when you're freezing your ass off in Antarctica!” Chenle grits between his teeth as his face starts to get a little numb.

“Not the answer I want to hear~” Renjun sings as he applies even more pressure to Chenle’s abused cheek with the satisfying reaction of said boy practically yelping. “Repeat after me. _You are._ ”

“You are.”

“ _The coolest person._ ”

Chenle swallows before he dare utters the next few words since he could already feel the metaphorical bile creeping up his esophagus. “The coolest person.”

“ _In the whole expansive planet we call Earth._ ” Chenle proceeds to crane his neck as far as he could to stare down Renjun, an unamused expression blatant on his face. _Really? That's what he chose to say?_

“Hyung, what the fuck are you on--" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before Renjun, merciless as he's known to be _starts pulling on his cheek_ and that's enough of an incentive for Chenle to screech out his next few words.

“InthewholeexpansiveplanetwecallEarth-- **Jesus** , hyung! Lay off the finger exercises will ya?!” Chenle cradles his cheek while soothingly rubbing his hand over it to erase the pain and torture it had just gone through. Add that to list of ‘ _Why you shouldn't piss off Renjun_.’

Under that pure smile he hides behind, Renjun is nothing but _evil_ which is proven by the fact that he begins to cackle at Chenle's suffering the second he let's go.

-

And that's exactly how he ends up in the auditorium afterschool on a Friday. _A great way to spend a Friday afternoon, am I right?_ He was planning on heading to the cinema with Jisung to watch “ _Love, Simon_ ” but that _clearly_ went out the window the minute Renjun hunted him down and seized his wrist to which Chenle only responded by gripping Jisung’s own wrist. _If he was going to suffer then so was Jisung, that's how their friendship worked._ Though that didn't stop Jisung from whining very _loudly_ as he tried to break free from Chenle's death grip.

“Goddammit! Why do _I_ have to go!? I didn't ask for this!”

“Well neither did I,” Chenle scoffed, “but _look_ where we are now. Being dragged by pretty little pink fairy over there.” He makes it a point to jerk his head in the direction of Renjun, his back facing them, donning a large pink sweater that makes his stature even tinier, _proving_   _that the impossible can become a reality._

Renjun decides to ignore the passing comment on his outfit as he continues marching towards his second home, the auditorium.

“Yeah but Renjun asked _you_ to help him out with _his_ theatre problem.”

“The more techies, the better.” Renjun says over his shoulder, looking Jisung dead in the eyes, making his intent very clear, _stop complaining and accept your fate because you're not getting out of this one, Mister Jisung Park._

Chenle giggles, “See? Can't escape eminent death if it's staring you in the face.”

Jisung merely grumbles as he dejectedly drags his feet behind him, he can already see the doors to the side entrance of the auditorium, no use in fighting it now.

“Oh cool, we get to use the side entrance? I always saw it when I passed by this hall to get to Technical Theatre 1.” Chenle blurts out as he scans the entrance, 2 sets of tiny red lockers stand tall at both sides of the double doors. He can see pink light emanating from inside the room as shown from the glass pane on the door.

“Special privileges. This is why you're a theater brat, you get to go into the auditorium as you please.” Renjun hums as he opens the door, finally letting go of Chenle's poor wrist. He steps in the aforementioned ‘pink room’ and Chenle can't help but gasp as he stares at the low ceiling. He hears Jisung trail behind him until he too is in the room and his reaction, less expressive though still holding the same amount of wonder, has him humming in delight.

“Hyung what are those _things_ in the fluorescent lights?” Chenle speaks for both him and Jisung, as his gaze flutters between the various colors: red, blue, green, pink, yellow, and even more colors that he can't identify since they're all overlapping each other.

Jisung can't help but add, “They're amazing. The fact that all these different colors make pink is still a little confusing but awesome at the same time.”

Renjun chuckles, turning his head up to look at the lights, ”I see you're captivated by light gels.”

“Light gels?” Chenle mutters as continues to stare at the kaleidoscope of light gels.

“Yeah it's what you put in front of a stage light to get colored light.” Renjun easily says as he pivots his heads towards the two boys, “If you're interested in lights, you should talk to Taeil hyung since he _is_ the light board operator.”

Both Jisung and Chenle turn towards each confused expression aghast on their faces and Renjun chuckles again.

“I'll explain it to you later,” Renjun says as he moves towards another door that presumably leads to the _actual_ auditorium, he starts to open the door as he says “but first you should meet some of theatre kids. The actors are starting warmups right now so it should be a perfect time to--”

“Mark Lee, I'm going to **kill** you!” A shrill voice echoes on the large stage. And then lots of _crashing, clanking and clattering_ proceed to follow it.

Renjun visibly paled as Chenle and Jisung try to process what's going on and next thing you know, Renjun is sprinting in the direction of the noise with them a few meters away trying to catch up.

Before their eyes is a boy with honey skin and brown hair, gripping a piece of wood, chasing another boy (Mark Lee?) while screaming bloody murder. The boy trying to escape, has slightly curly blonde hair and is clearly very distressed considering his expression is one of extreme terror. _Ahhh, it feels good to finally be on the other side of fear. He could get used to this._

Though his basking in the fear of others didn't last too long as a voice from the back(?) of the auditorium interrupts his train of thought.

“This is the exact reason why you don't leave your supplies laying around while the actors are nearby, _Injunnie._ ”

Chenle can't pinpoint where exactly the voice is coming from but he does see Renjun glare at a space at the top of the wall in the back.

“Well I'm _sorry_ but I had to get this set done. Especially since _some_ people refuse to help." Renjun's glare becomes sharper. "Do you want the Spring musical to not have a set and instead have the actors perform an absolute shit show?”

“I don't know,” the voice hums in amusement, “Still feels like it’d be better than our One Act.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is still a thing, I swear my insomnia is good for one thing alone. Honestly I have this fic roughly planned out aka I wrote on a napkin interactions between ships that HAVE TO HAPPEN. 
> 
> Get ready for this hot mess.

“I don't know,” a voice echoes from the back of the auditorium. Clearly this person _had_ to be shouting considering the fact that they were so far away. “Still feels like it’d be better than our One Act.”

Chenle finally notices that the voice is coming from a room stationed at the back wall, at least 30 feet off the ground, the sliding window opened where he finds a boy hunched over, arms perched over the edge of the window sill.

“Fuck _you_ , Johnny.”

“I'll remember that the next time you need someone to help you strike the set.” A good-natured chuckle slips past Johnny’s lips.

Renjun rolls his eyes as he shakes his head, “Anyways that's Johnny, he’s our soundboard operator.”

Chenle and Jisung are as lost as ever with all this terminology that Renjun keeps spitting at them, as if it was common knowledge.

Noticing their perplexed expression, Renjun proceeds to open his mouth until he’s rudely interrupted by Johnny.

“What he means is that I control the mics and make sure that the sound isn't too loud that it makes your ears bleed. Or as I like to call it, _The Great War Against Feedback_.”

“Hyung, I've never heard you say that. Stop making shit up in front of the new recruits.” Another voice cuts into their slightly heated banter (at least from Renjun’s point of view, Johnny’s just having a good time teasing his _little Injunnie_ )

A boy with muted purple hair stands in front of them, big eyes staring intently, he almost looked… bunny-like. Chenle would've stated so out loud but he had a feeling that the boy wouldn't have appreciated that. If anything Chenle felt like he should do everything in his power to not piss him off, he had a feeling that they'd be seeing each other a _lot_ more often.

“Looks like Renjunnie brought some fresh victims.It's a pleasure to be able to take advantage of free teenage labor.” Bunny-boy stuck his hand out in a friendly fashion but the smirk overtaking his face seemed to differ.

Chenle had to suppress a shiver as he in turn tentatively took Bunny-boy’s hand to shake, “I'm Chenle.”

Jisung also proceeded to shake his hand,“Jisung,” he mutters not being able to look him in the eyes and insteads opts to stare at the floor.

“Don't be scared of Doyoung, he may be _Assistant_ Stage Manager but he’s not that intimidating… that is until he's screaming at you during a full tech run.” Renjun considers his previous statement and visibly grimaces, “Then yes, be very afraid.”

Doyoung frowns, “I may be _Assistant_ Stage Manager but that doesn't prevent me from beating your ass when you get a cue wrong during a tech run _when you should've remembered it because we've been practicing for three **fucking** weeks._ ”

“Don’t let him distract you, Renjun,” yet _another_ voice says, coming from the same place Johnny was currently at. A brunette _considerably_ shorter than Johnny was now at the window sill, gently pushing Johnny out of the way so he too could talk to the “new victims" as Doyoung put it. _Damn, it looked cramped, how many people were supposed to be up there? Having two people in that tiny ass room already seemed crowded._

“Remember you still need to stop Donghyuck from possibly killing Mark.” The boy gently reminds him as he gives Renjun an easy going smile.

“If paint is hard to clean off the stage then imagine how much more difficult blood would be,” Johnny helpfully supplies from the brunette’s right. In response the boy shoves Johnny, chiding him for his joke.

“Right!” Renjun turns around to find Donghyuck _still_ chasing Mark with a slab of wood. How they managed to stay quiet while this whole exchange happened is beyond Chenle--

Mark begins to scream again.

“Hyuck! It was just a joke. I swear it was _only_ a joke!” A high pitched wail escapes his throat as his arms flail in the air.

“WELL IT WASN'T VERY FUNNY.” Donghyuck punctuates every syllable with venom, eyes continuously staring daggers at the one _he was going to absolutely pummel to the ground with a piece of wood until his remains were no longer recognizable, all the while throwing his dust particles into a river._

Now that Chenle was able to see the action up close and personal, he noticed Donghyuk had a bright red blush across his face. _Cute_. He lightly shakes his head at the comment his brain automatically made. _Now is **not** the time. _

Donghyuck continues chasing Mark around the stage and Renjun sighs, “Where’s Taeyong when we need him? He's the one who knows how to deal with the actors.”

“He’ll be here in about 20 minutes,” Doyoung says as he checks his phone, “He’s talking to Mr. Do about his grade.”

Doyoung whispers, “Suck-up.” as he puts his phone away after checking the messages he exchanged with Taeyong.

“Ughhh, I hate actors.” Renjun bemoans as he drags his feet in the direction of the two kids, one with a deadly weapon and the other screaming for his life.

“Careful. They might hear you _and_ get offended.” A snarky voice sounds from behind Chenle and Jisung. _How many people are there in here!?_ Chenle vigorously checks the auditorium to find that were _a lot_ more kids in here than he initially thought… about _eleven_ more and counting, and if he was going to be honest he had a sneaking suspicion that there were others, they were so spread out that he's must _have_ missed a person or two.

“Kun hyung!” Renjun shouts as he catapults himself towards the newcomer, practically squishing the boy’s frame with his own clinging body.

Kun just laughs as he hauls Renjun’s legs up so they circle around his hips, hugging him with an equal amount of force.

And really it's a ridiculous sight, a brunette carrying around a dwarf with equally as ridiculous orange hair and an awfully obnoxious pink sweater. _Is this what theatre was about? Really weird ass shit that those theatre kids happened to find normal. Because if it was, Chenle was ready to bolt out those doors any second now._

As if sensing his friend’s inner turmoil, Renjun quickly detached himself from Kun and turn towards him and Jisung, _a grin splitting his face in half_.

_Honest to God it was starting to get creepy with how much Renjun was smiling during the past twenty minutes. He's for sure possessed by a demon._

“This is Kun,” Renjun interrupts his thoughts from getting even more out of control, “He’s also a techie. Typically he helps out whenever he can, so he has a general knowledge of the whole technical side of theatre. Pretty cool, right?” Renjun is smiling so wide that Chenle is _truly_ starting to believe in the Demon Possession Theory he proposed.

“Who are these guys?” Kun says in reference to Chenle and Jisung. Whether he expected an answer or not, Doyoung responds.

“Fresh meat.”

“Oh lovely. I've always wanted new sacrifices to our lord and savior, Techvis. He’s been getting pretty antsy over the fact that he hasn't had young blood in millenials.” Kun can't help but chuckle as he stares down Chenle. Jisung seemed perfectly intact, humming to himself as watched everything unfold before him while Chenle was receiving harsh eye contact from Kun.

Loud clatters populate the auditorium alongside shrieks… _very_ high pitched shrieks and Renjun was reminded of what he was supposed to do.

He marches towards the troublemakers, a stern expression on his face as he purses his lips and in a couple of seconds, peace is brought back to the world: Renjun has successfully robbed Donghyuck of his murder weapon.

And then instead of _shrieks_ echoing… it's **_whining_**.

“Oh come on! Renjun, give me the piece of wood back!” Donghyuck all but yells at him as he stalks closer to Renjun. Mark noticing this starts creeping further away from Donghyuck, he begins to be one with the curtain as he vanishes inside the black fabric.

“Why were you chasing Mark with a two by four?”

Donghyuck flushes up even more, “Well h-h-he--,” Donghyuck struggles with trying to get a proper sentence out that his shoulders are shaking until he finally snaps. “It’s none of your business! I'll chase Mark around with a big stick if I want to!”

“Well it is my business when you're using a two by four to resolve your blatant sexual tension.”

The curtain squeaks as Donghyuck proceeds to vehemently deny such a notion in the most mature way possible.

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am _not_!”

“Are _too_!”

“Am **_not_**!”

“Are _**too**_!”

Johnny laughs as he walks towards the stage, clapping his hands in amusement, the brunette from before is with him as well though his face seemingly more tired than anything else.

“Chenle. Jisung. I properly welcome you into the art that is theatre.” Johnny has his arms spread wide, gesturing to the auditorium as a whole. “God knows _that_ you can't escape us now after all that. Isn't that right, guys?”

Doyoung, Kun, the brunette and _even_ the curtain hum in agreement.

“ _Welcome to insanity. We hope you enjoy your stay because you're sure as hell not getting out._ ”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, a lot of the shit that happens in this fic happened in real life. 
> 
> No joke, one of the actors just started chasing the others with a piece of wood. And then the others started to steal it off of each other and proceeded to beat each other with it. Just.
> 
> this is the reason why I'm a techie. I'm literally their babysitter that tries desperately to have them NOT kill each other. 
> 
> Most of the time I fail miserably.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going insane. While writing this I've been listening to Congratulations and Celebrations by Cliff Richard for 8 hours.
> 
> send help.
> 
> Other than my deteriorating sanity I hope you enjoy this chapter... because i sure did.
> 
> Doesn't help my quest on who to ship with Chenle.
> 
> ...
> 
> Can't I just make him date a power drill, like that's so much easier. I'm too aro for this romance bullshit.
> 
> YOU. KNOW. WHAT
> 
> My new OTP is Techie!Chenle x DeWalt Power Drill 
> 
> fight me.

The hallway is eerily still, the clock ticking is the only source of sound, the minute hand echoing as it moves, _tick tick tick_.

Suddenly sounds of rapid footsteps as powerful as galloping horses fill the void of silence. The slamming of rubber soles against the tiled floor reverberate and two boys dash down the corridor.

“ _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_ … We're _so_ late. Doyoung is actually going to _**kill**_ us once and for all.”

“Thank you Captain Obvious, I _know_ we're late.” Jisung snaps at Chenle as he quickly checks his phone, fumbling with his password.

_3:17_

_Yep. They're dead._

“Just know that I _love_ you, man. If we get out of this alive, I swear I’ll show how much _I **fucking** love you_.”

“ _Shut up_. We're not gonna die,” Jisung rolls his eyes as he picks up his pace, “Stop being overdramatic.”

A blaring ‘ _ping_ ’ interrupts their banter.

 

**Killer Rabbit**

**Thursday, April 26, 2018**

Where r u (:

**[3:18]**

 

“ _ **FUCK**_. CHENLE, HURRY THE _**FUCK**_ UP.”

“Was that Doyoung!?” Chenle begins to sprint, running beside Jisung instead of behind him.

Jisung doesn't answer his question, Chenle already knew who it was when Jisung began cussing.

“HE SENT A SMILEY FACE. OPEN PARENTHESIS, COLON.”

Horror overtakes Chenle, “BUT HE _**NEVER**_ SENDS A SMILEY FACE.”

“ _ **EXACTLY**_.”

Chenle and Jisung both bolt towards the auditorium, almost tripping over each other to try and open the door that leads to their death. They rush past the ‘pink room’ and rip open the entrance to the theatre. Their booming footsteps thunder against the wooden floorboards but at this point they don't care if they cause a loud ruckus, they just want Doyoung to _**kill**_ them a little less.

Their chest heaves and Chenle keels over, trying to suck in as much oxygen as their lungs possibly can since they sprinted halfway across campus in about…

Jisung checks his phone again.

_3:22_

Five minutes.

_Five **fucking** minutes. _

Jisung also joins Chenle on the floor, his body dropping from exhaustion, arms spreading out as he regains his breath, limbs tingling from the impromptu exercise.

A clearing of a throat catches his attention, and he looks up. His vision is filled with Doyoung, his arms are crossed as he taps his foot against the floor, a not-so-happy expression adorns his face.

“ _You're late._ ”

Jisung mouth was focused on solely one thing: inhaling air. He doesn't bother answering and Chenle does so in his steed.

“Sponsor… talking… club… activities,” Chenle huffs out from his spot on the floor, barely able to form proper sentences without needing air.

Doyoung shakes his head, “ _Whatever_ the reason is,” a pointed glare is shot towards both Jisung and Chenle, “You're _fifty two_ minutes late. Do you have _any_ idea--"

“Doyoung!” Taeyong bounds towards them, pink hair bouncing as he places a hand on Doyoung’s shoulder. He looks at the boys sprawled out on the floor, gives them an affectionate smile, and chuckles. “Chenle, Jisung, it's nice of you to join us~” His chuckles turn into light laughter, and he brings up his arm to cover his mouth as he laughs.

Taeyong kneels down and rubs Jisung’s back, “You didn't need to run _all_ the way here, you could've just walked like the _rest_ of humanity.”

At times like these Jisung and Chenle are fortunate to have such a forgiving, gracious, kind, benevolent, loving--

“ _Oh, they **better** have run,_ ” Doyoung sneers, sass dripping from his sentence, “If not, I wouldn't _even_ consider forgiving them.”

“Oh come _on_ , don’t be like that,” Taeyong says as he turns towards Doyoung, lightly hitting him and Doyoung snorts in response. “They're here _now_ and that's all that matters."

“ _Yeah_ , and they were _supposed_ to be here _fifty two_ minutes ago,” Doyoung punctuates his sentence and hits Taeyong a little harder in retaliation.

“Give them a break, they only _just_ started.” Taeyong focuses his attention on Doyoung, turning away from the kids dying on the ground, he begins to shove Doyoung.

“I really _do_ wonder how you ended up as Stage Manager. You're too soft on them, how are they going to learn if you don't discipline them?”

“Well that's why I have you,” Taeyong cheekily winks at him, cutely pointing at the other boy.

“Whatever.” Doyoung gives up, shakes his head once more and walks away towards Stage Left, his ears slightly red underneath the work lights. He grumbles about ‘incompetent stage managers’ and ‘unfaithful dongsaengs’ while his mouth forms a pout.

Taeyong laughs, turns around to give Chenle and Jisung a bright smile before he runs off to join Doyoung.

Chenle and Jisung stare at each other from their peripheral vision, too preoccupied with watching Doyoung and Taeyong as they continue to saunter backstage.

“So we’re _not_ dead…?”

 

 _Ping_.

 

**Killer Rabbit**

**Thursday, April 26, 2018**

Don’t think this is over

Ur cleaning up the auditorium after rehearsal today

**[3:29]**

 

 _Another ping_.

 

**Killer Rabbit**

**Thursday, April 26, 2018**

I’ll make sure he isn't too hard on you ~TY

**[3:29]**

 

-

 

_“Am not."_

_“Are too.”_

 

_“Are they **still** arguing?!” Chenle in his exasperation couldn't help but yell, arms thrown in the air as he couldn't believe that after an hour, eleven minutes and thirty three seconds of arguing that they **continued** to bicker. That's right, he **counted** because after a while he got bored, took out his phone and timed them. _

_“Oh yeah, they'll be stuck like this for hours,” Johnny grinned as he noticed Chenle's rising annoyance with Renjun and Donghyuck. If anything this type of behaviour was expected from Donghyuck… but Renjun so readily indulging in his childish ways was unexpected. Typically Renjun scoffed and moved on, refusing to join Donghyuck, preferring to observe over participating in his antics. Johnny took it as Renjun being excited about his friends joining tech as an explanation for such bizarre conduct._

_“I suppose this is a good time to contact Taeyong?” The brunette pipes from his place besides Johnny._

_“Yes!” Kun, Doyoung, Chenle and Jisung roar as they leap towards the boy, almost squishing his ‘smol’ self with their combined ‘tol-ness.’_

_“That would be very appreciated, Taeil hyung,” Johnny chuckles as he watches the other practically smother Taeil as he takes out his phone to text Taeyong._

 

**_Me_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_The kids are arguing again_

_The others miss you_

_Hurry your butt up before they kill each other_

**_[4:01]_ **

 

**_Tyongie~_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_omw_

_Took a lot longer than i expected >.< _

**_[4:02]_ **

 

**_Me_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_By the way we have 2 new techies_

**_[4:03]_ **

 

**_Me_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_They're cute ^-^_

**_[4:04]_ **

 

**_Tyongie~_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_OMG \\(°o°)/_

_WHAT_

_ARE_

_THEIR_

_NAMES_

**_[4:06]_ **

 

**_Me_ **

**_Tuesday, April 24, 2018_ **

_Chenle and Jisung_

**_[4:06]_ **

_read at 4:06_

 

_Taeil chortled as he put his phone away in his back pocket, and as he looks up he's met with five pairs of curious eyes._

_“He’ll get here by four o’seven,” Taeil confidently tells the others, all eagerly awaiting his consensus._

_Chenle looks baffled and quickly snaps his head towards the clock located in the auditorium, “Wait… isn’t it four o’six?”_

_Taeil merely smiles, “Precisely.” Chenle remains confused while the rest accept Taeil’s vague answer: Doyoung, Kun and Johnny already used to his ‘mysterious ways’ while Jisung was too lazy to question him further._

_As the minute hand moves to display four o’seven, the doors open to reveal a boy with light pink hair, his head jerks from left to right, scanning the area. His face visibly brightens up as his eyes land on the mass of people that include the two new techies._

_He rushes over, his grin continues to grow in size the closer he got until he’s standing right in front of Chenle and Jisung._

_“Hi! You must be the new techies. Chenle and Jisung, right?”_

_“Umm….yes,” Chenle mumbles awkwardly, feet shuffling against the floor. How the hell did this dude already know his name?! Man, does news spread fast in theatre, something he should **definitely** keep in mind for the future._

_“...I'm Chenle,” slowly motioning towards himself and then he looks at the dirty blonde beside him. A few seconds pass by, adding more tension to the already thick atmosphere courtesy of Chenle being a socially awkward bean. He makes the same gesture for Jisung in such a robotic manner that he can hear his joints pop as his arm moves, “Jisung.”_

_Taeyong’s amusement doesn’t go unnoticed by Chenle who had just, as some people would call it, **fucked** up._

_“I’m sure the others have told you who I am,” He extends his hand towards Chenle, “I’m Taeyong, the Stage Manager.”_

_Chenle returns the offered handshake, Taeyong’s grip surprisingly stronger than what Chenle had expected and before he can respond, he’s already shaking hands with Jisung._

_Taeyong gives them both a final beam before he turns towards the house where currently the rest of the occupants of the theatre are residing, “Alright guys, gather ‘round!”_

_Suddenly many bodies surround Chenle and Jisung (including Donghyuck and Renjun, they **finally** stopped fighting, thank Christ), swarming his personal space until they form a circle (more like an oval) around them, focusing their attention on the newcomers._

_“As you guys know, we have two new kids joining us,” and Taeyong, almost as if displaying a new art piece in a museum, gesticulates in their direction, “Chenle and Jisung.” Chenle raises his arm up to shyly wave at the crowd before him while Jisung remains stoic._

_“And to make sure they feel as comfortable as possible, everybody is going to introduce themselves including their role and grade.” He turns towards the boys standing in the middle of the ‘social circle,’ “For reference the production we’re doing is Into the Woods.” He faces the crowd once more and claps his hand in finality, then proceeds to point at a boy with black hair and dark turquoise highlights._

_“Jeno. Freshman. I play Cinderella’s Prince.”_

_“Jaemin. I’m a Freshman as well, and I’m playing Rapunzel’s Prince,” He slings his arm around Jeno and winks at Chenle._

_“I’m Mark, I play the Baker…” Mark looks to the right where Donghyuck stands as if signalling him to introduce himself. Donghyuck raises his eyebrow, crossing his arms as he looks back at Mark. “Oh! I’m also a Freshman...sorry about that,” Mark sheepishly adds, giving Donghyuck an apologetic expression._

_Donghyuck rolls his eyes in response, “Donghyuck. Freshman,” Donghyuck lifts his arms and bends them at the elbow, curling his fingers to create an illusion of claws, not to mention his face begins to form the ever popular ‘smoulder,’ “And I play the Big Bad Wolf.”_

_Afterwards all the introductions blend into one another and Chenle can’t remember everybody's name, there’s too many for peep’s sake! The only ones he can name off the top of his head were Hyejin, Hyungjung, Yongsun, and this kid named WinWin. The only reason he recalled his name was because of how strange it was, with a name like that people would definitely remember it… or horribly butcher it… probably both if we’re going to be honest._

_“Okay! Let’s start warm ups!” Taeyong announces as Chenle and Jisung all but flee from the oval of people. Some of the actors begin to grumble but a majority are excited to finally start rehearsal, they were beginning to get antsy but Taeyong always shows up before any real **shit** goes down._

 

-

 

Chenle and Jisung finally recover from their sprint across campus, standing up and stretching their limbs since they were crumpled on the floor for an uncomfortable amount of time. Renjun approaches them in all his ‘short orange fairy’ glory, “Come on, the actors are gonna start rehearsal in a few and that means we retreat to the Dock.”

“What the _**fuck**_ is a dock.” Chenle can’t help but retort, huffing in the process.

“Dock as in _loading_ dock. It’s where we keep all our building materials and also doubles as storage, so let’s go!” Renjun grips Chenle’s wrist and drags him forwards, walking towards the wing on Stage Left and Chenle automatic response was to _also_ grip Jisung’s wrist… Except he may have miscalculated since he wasn’t looking at him and grabbed his hand instead. Jisung clenches his hand around Chenle’s, imposing a death grip on him. _Guess he isn’t too happy with holding hands_.

That being said Chenle couldn’t help but notice how much bigger Jisung’s hand was… _and how soft it was. It shouldn’t be that soft, should it!? It’s so warm too…_ Chenle’s attention was so focused on the enigma that is Jisung’s hand that he didn’t realize that he was slowly rubbing his thumb against Jisung.

He quickly snapped out of his trance after he _nearly_ bumped into a cart piled full of wood… wasn’t that _supposed_ to be in the Dock instead of in the wings where it can be a potential hazard?

“We don’t have enough space in the Dock, so we just left it in the wings.” Renjun answers easily as he maneuvered past the many hazardous obstacles that littered the backstage area including a roll of chicken wire, a twisted wire statue of a foot… or hand(?) and a door ( _Why the **fuck** is there a door backstage_ ). Honestly Renjun continues to prove that the Demon Possession Theory is one hundred percent real with all this _spooky mind reading **shit**_ … _and the smiling, don’t forget about the smiling_.

Renjun continues to tug Chenle (and in turn Jisung) backstage where they eventually reach an opening to the presumed dock.

Entering the Dock is like entering Disney World: you’re wonderstruck gaping at all this _amazing **shit** you’ve never seen before_... until you notice there’s screaming kids. Correction, _one_ screaming kid. And by kid, Chenle means _Johnny_.

 ~~The screaming kid~~ Johnny is currently slumped on a beige recliner set off to the side of the Dock shouting about _who knows what_ (the superiority of Starbucks) while Taeil and Kun just stand there, forced to listen to his _ridiculous_ rant.

Renjun strolled into the room, Chenle and Jisung in tow, and as he approached Kun he couldn’t help but vocalize a “Shut up, Johnny, Starbucks doesn’t have real coffee.”

Johnny frowns, opens his mouth to retort only to be interrupted by Renjun _yet again_ , “Alright let’s find some wood!”

Chenle motions at all the wood currently around them in a deadpan manner.

“I _meant_ wood we can use for the set.” Renjun countered as he begins to move aside a vibrantly painted four by eight flat with the help of Kun.

“There’s not much you’re gonna find,” Johnny stated, continuing to laze on the recliner as he yawned.

“I _know_ that! I’m just seeing if we have any scraps left from Check Please.”

“We don’t.”

Renjun snapped his head towards Johnny, his hands letting go of the flat he was currently moving (Taeil had to quickly run over so that it didn’t fall on Kun), scowling at him.

“Well we won’t _know_ until we _look_ for them.”

“Don’t bother. I already told Mr. Park to stock up on wood.”

“So _what’s the **point** of being here then!?_ ” Renjun throws his arms up in exasperation, trying to not strangle Johnny.

“Techie bonding time?” Johnny bashfully smiles as he flutters his eyelashes.

Renjun is unamused while Taeil and Kun in the background struggle to put back the flat to where it originally lay, and Chenle being merciful, aids them in the task.

 

~

 

“So what do we do now?” Chenle asks as he sits on the floor littered with sawdust, screws and tools, spotting a hammer, he grasps its handle and begins to fiddle with it. He looks up to see Jisung standing and tugs on his arm, gesturing for him to join him on the cement floor. Jisung makes a face as he slowly lowers himself and crosses his legs, complying with Chenle’s wishes. Satisfied, Chenle sidles up beside him, resting his head on his shoulder as he continues to play with the hammer.

“Well this is a good time than ever to _educate_ you on our jobs,” Johnny announces, a big grin displayed on his face, “Properly, this time. My official title is Sound Board Operator which means I control the sound board located in the Booth. I’m responsible for any and all sound: if there are sound cues, I’m the one manually playing them through the sound system, if we’re using mics, I’m constantly adjusting the fader to make sure it isn’t too loud or quiet, and in other cases muting its channel if we aren’t using it at the time, things like that,” He says as twirls his hand to emphasize the nature of his job.

“The Booth, if you’re wondering, is that small room positioned at the back of the auditorium.” Taeil adds as he ambles towards Johnny and sits on the arm of the recliner, tired from lifting the flat.

“Oh, isn’t it that place where you and Taeil always are during rehearsal?” Jisung can’t help but add as he levels his gaze with Johnny.

“Yep.” Johnny popping the ‘p’ as his head sluggishly turns towards Taeil, “Why don’t you explain your ‘pretty light stuff’?”

Taeil lets out a breathy chuckle, “I’m Light Board Operator and surprise, surprise, I control the Light Board. I also maintain the stage lights and in turn the light gels. It's a fun job playing with lights until you learn that the more you use ‘em, the faster the gels melt and to be completely honest, it's a _pain in the_ **_butt_**  to replace those things. _Especially_ striplights, don't even get me started on **_freaking_** striplights.” He says as he begins to glare at nothing in particular, venting out his frustrations by other means.

“If it's any consolation, you can make Chenle and Jisung do all the dirty work under the pretense of ‘training them’" Doyoung says as he saunters into the Dock, binder kept closely by his side.

“You're right but that would be kinda mean.”

Doyoung shrugs, “It was merely a suggestion not an order.”

“With you, you can never tell.”

“Is rehearsal over?” Chenle inquired before Doyoung and Taeil got too deep into their banter.

“I _wish_. They’re just take a thirty minute break because _somebody_ decided that it’d be a good idea to go to Pollo Tropical during _rush hour_.”

“Was it Lucas?” Kun couldn't help but supply as he smirks at Doyoung.

“Of _course_ it was Lucas! Who else would be _dumb_ enough to do that!?”

“You mean _creative_ enough.” Suddenly Mark appears, idly walking into the conversation, and breaks into a mirth filled smile.

“Oh not _you_ too! You know what!?” Doyoung in mild irritation begins to stomp off, leaving the rest of the techies and Mark by themselves in the Dock, “I’m done with you people!”

Mark erupts into giggles that infects the rest of the group, plunging them all into a giggle fit. At one point someone lets out a snort and they laugh even harder, and Chenle is clutching his stomach from the excessive amount of laughter. They eventually all calm down enough to let out a few chuckles here and there. Silence befalls the group.

“Not to be rude but what are you doing here Mark?” Renjun says as he breaks the quietude of the Dock, playfully shoving Mark in the process.

“I just wanted to check up on you guys,” Mark chortles, “Because after Taeil got hit in the head by that five hundred pound flat, I want to make sure none of you are hurt.”

“Wow Mark, so nice and caring~ Where did that come from?” Johnny teases as he glances at Chenle from the corner of his eye, “Is it because we have cute techies now?”

Mark reddens and rapidly waves his arms in front of him as if to deflect the embarrassment he felt, “N-n-no! Of course n-not! I’ve always been like this.”

“Are you suggesting Chenle _isn’t_ cute?” Kun joins in on teasing Mark, he stalks towards Chenle, kneels down and smothers him in a hug, rubbing his head against Chenle’s, “I can’t believe you would say such a thing!”

In abject horror Mark sputtered “Wait! No! That’s not what I _meant_! He _is_ very cute! Like really _really_ cute!”

Kun chuckles, “Don't say that to me, I already know, say that to _him_.” He grips Chenle’s shoulders and pushes him forwards where he sits before Mark.

With all this attention on him Chenle begins to blush, a tinge of red on his cheeks, as he shyly looks from below his lashes to see Mark in roughly the same situation… except a lot worse for wear considering his face has a bright red color to it rivaling that of a firetruck.

“Y-you’re very cute. There, I said it,” pouting as he avoids eye contact with the boy he had just been peer pressured to compliment.

“T-Thank you,” Chenle manages to whispers as he too, focuses his eyes on anywhere that isn't Mark, a hard task when you’re _right_ in front of him.

“ _Truly_ our Mark has grown up,” Johnny raises his hand to wipe away his imaginary tears, “First he’ll be complimenting boys then the next thing you know he’ll be _**fu**_ \--”

“ _Hyung_! Don’t talk about _that_!” Stopping Johnny from even _continuing_ his sentence, Mark proceeds with a mortified laced tone “It's inappro--”

The boy with turquoise highlights (Wasn't his name Jeno?) slinks into the Dock and taps Mark on the shoulder, stopping Mark’s train of thought. Chenle hadn't even notice him until he was hovering over the blonde’s shoulder with a blank expression.

“Is rehearsal starting?” Mark turns his body towards the person who had just tapped his shoulder, eyes curiously gazing at him.

The boy nods.

Mark swivels his head towards the others, “Duty calls,” saluting as he departs with Jeno(?).

 

~

 

Before long the Dock is filled with rambunctious laughter and witticism once more, the occupants’ voices echoes to the point Doyoung has to warn them _several_ times to _shut the **fuck** up because he can hear them from the house_.

They don't listen.

Taeil soons leaves as he had to pick up his younger sister and offers to drive Kun home since they live near each other, to which Kun readily accepts.

With only Johnny, Renjun, Jisung and Chenle left, the conversations turns more tranquil and a tad bit philosophical.

 

“If tomato is a fruit, why don’t we put it in a fruit salad?”

 

“Because that’s _stupid_ , Johnny.”

 

“Renjun has a point… and it’s absolutely disgusting. Think about it, _why the **fuck** would you put a tomato in a fruit salad_.”

 

“Because maybe the tomato was feeling lonely. Ever thought of _that_ , Jisung?”

 

“I leave you alone for _ten minutes_ and you're discussing the emotional state of a _tomato_. Why am I not surprised.” Doyoung deadpans as he leans against the entrance of the Dock.

“Yes, tomatoes have feelings too.” Johnny states from his place on the recliner that he had yet to get up from.

“Johnny, how high are you?”

“I'm high on life, _thank you very much_.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “Moving _swiftly_ along, rehearsals over.” He then points towards Chenle and Jisung, “Get to cleaning, Stage Right is a mess because Lucas _decided_ to eat in the auditorium after I _strictly_ told him to get _his fat **ass** off the stage and into the ‘pink room’ where he's allowed to eat._ If Taeyong wasn’t so fond of him I would've killed him already.”

Johnny rises from his recliner, “This is my cue to leave. Later.” He waves at Chenle, Jisung and Renjun as he starts walking towards the entrance of the Dock, passing Doyoung on his way out.

“Wait! You’re not going to help us?!” Chenle shouted, appalled at the notion of Johnny leaving at the most crucial moment ( _cleaning a whole **damn** auditorium_ ).

“I wasn’t the _one_ who arrived late to rehearsal.” He sniggered as he pats Doyoung’s shoulder in passing. “Get home safely, Johnny,” Doyoung turns his head as he softly murmurs to Johnny.

In response, he nods and disappears from view, his footsteps echo in the otherwise silent theatre.

“I’m heading out, see you tomorrow,” Doyoung also leaves and bids his farewell, leaving Chenle, Jisung and Renjun by themselves.

 

~

 

Renjun sighs and begins to exit the Dock, Chenle and Jisung following closely behind, resigning to their fate of being on cleaning duty.

The boys begin to quickly pick up trash left behind, trying to finish before it becomes six o’clock such as pieces of paper, wrappers, water bottles and even a cupcake because someone decided that eating a cupcake was a good idea and then just _dropped the **damn** thing_ _on the floor_ , staining the carpet surrounding the house area.

The house was filled with so much **_shit_** that Chenle began to truly notice how repulsive people were as he walked in between the rows of seats. _It's not like there was trashcan fifteen feet away_.

“A lot of the junk left behind are from kids who are stuck inside the auditorium because their classrooms are being used for testing,” Renjun yells from his place at the back row of the house while Chenle and Jisung remained near the front. “Meaning lots of rowdy kids at like 8 AM in the morning that are _bound_ to make a mess.”

“But seriously, hyung, _who leaves a whole take-out box filled with chicken!? **Fucking** chicken!_ ”

Renjun merely shrugs as he continues to pick up rubbish, Chenle sighs as he considers _informing_ the student populous about the proper way to dispose of waste which _news flash, is a **fucking** trash can_.

After leaving the auditorium in a better state than it originally was (no longer do cupcakes and take-out containers litter the floor), Renjun gets a text from his mother and is bidding a farewell, waving as he approaches a car, presumably his mother's.

 

~

 

Chenle and Jisung walk home together, taking a leisurely tempo as a comfortable silence settles between them, passing various buildings and trees.

Chenle’s body is aching, weary from everything he did today ( _You’d be surprised how tiring picking up litter can be_ ), wanting nothing but to be able to nap. He sighs thinking of all the homework he needed to do before he even considered sleeping, he starts to regret taking Geometry as a Freshman. He should've just taken Algebra 1 again, maybe then he wouldn't want to cry from the frustration of finding the measurement of angles in intersecting lines.

A warmth engulfs Chenle’s hand, jostling him from his thoughts, he looks at the only possible culprit, _Jisung_.

“My hand’s cold.”

Chenle raises his eyebrow, doubt clear on his face and he muses, “I thought you didn't like holding hands.”

“ _My hand is **cold**_.” Jisung says through gritted teeth, purposely looking away from Chenle instead choosing to gaze at the flora they were passing. In his defence daffodils are very pretty _and definitely easier to stare at… and he may or may not have missed the feeling of Chenle’s hand in his own._

After Chenle forcibly grabbed his hand during rehearsal, Jisung’s thoughts were invaded with images of Chenle and his little hand holding act, each time progressively worse and grossly more romantic. At the time he had panicked and exerted an insane amount of strength on Chenle’s hand in an attempt to get him to let go, heart beating erratically against his ribcage. Of course Chenle didn't let go _but when did he ever_. His mind began to go haywire when Chenle rubbed his thumb over his hand, incoherent thoughts rushing at a million miles per hour that all we could comprehend was his brain internally screaming. Lots, and _lots_ of screaming.

Chenle lets out a breathy chuckle and squeezes Jisung’s hand in return. “Well, feel free to use my hand as your own personal heat pack.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More techie story time. Woooo.
> 
> So everything that's backstage in this fic is actually backstage in my auditorium.
> 
> Like no joke.
> 
> We have like a shit ton of doors and only one of them has a proper frame. That we tried to fix. For like a whole day.
> 
> that failed.
> 
> So now it closes slight better. Slightly.
> 
> Also the weird wire statue thing? That shit's real.
> 
> So the story behind that is one of the art teachers had that lying around and asked the theatre teacher if they wanted it or not.
> 
> And they were like 'ehhhh, why not.'
> 
> And I was like 'WE DON'T HAVE SPACE FOR THAT. WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT IT.'
> 
> And they stared me dead in the eyes and said, 'We're keeping it.'
> 
> So now it's rotting backstage.
> 
> Fun.
> 
> (Also we did have a recliner in the Dock for a some time until we eventually moved it to the blackbox. But damn was it fun to sit and sass people while they sanded a piece of wood. Yes. I was Johnny. And it. was. glorious.)
> 
> Speaking of cleaning up the auditorium, I learned highschool kids are nasty.
> 
> THEY LEFT A TAKE-OUT CONTAINER UNDERNEATH A SEAT. LIKE KID. WHY.
> 
> And the cupcake thing. Yep. Totally happened. What's even worse is that one of the techies commited such a sin.
> 
> i. am. disappoint.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M NOT DEAD EVERYONE. Amazingly enough I had chapter 4 written in my docs and I just kind of forgot about it... oops? 
> 
> PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I'M SORRY I DIDN'T REALIZE IT UNTIL I FOUND IT.
> 
> That being said chapter 4 was supposed to go into the meat of Saturday Tech Day... and then it became a bit too long so FEAR NOT, NEXT CHAPTER FOR SURE WILL GO INTO IT. Also expect some interactions between Chenle and a certain silent boy next chapter *cough cough* Jeno 
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy.

“I don't want to hear any of you complain,” Mr. Park announces, his gaze vigilant as he scans every face currently in the black box, the whole troupe is seated before him in either desks or the floor, some of them on top of each other (Jaemin and Jeno), “but we'll be having rehearsal on Saturday.”

A chorus of groans fill the room, some even going as far to protest.

“ _But_ Mr. Park, I have to study--”

“There's a project due--"

“APs are coming up--"

“ _Goddammit_ , Saturday is reserved for doing absolutely nothi--”

 

“Shut it. I told you _not_ to complain and the first thing you do is whine out like little babies.” Mr Park grits out as he shakes his head, leaning his arms forward on his desk. “It's not going to be rehearsal _exactly_ \--"

The troupe cheers and whoops of delight are exchanged between various members, all overjoyed to not go through another _hellish_ \--

“More like a tech day where we’ll be constructing our set.”

…..

….

…

..

.

“ _ **Fucking hell.**_ ”

 

-

 

A phone blares in the silence of a bedroom, screeching as it rumbles on the nightstand, the screen obnoxiously lighting up.

_6:50_

A hand breaches from below the mountain of blankets, searching for the source of the sound, blinding groping until correctly locating the phone, automatically swiping ‘snooze’. _Damn thing going off at an **ungodly** hour. _

Tranquility engulfs the room, sunlight streams in through the miniscule crack in the curtains, dust cascades to the ground; a perfect mixture for a calm and soothing morning to sleep in.

The phone roars to life once more.

A pathetic whine, muffled from the stacks of blankets piled on top of the mattress, is ripped out of Chenle's throat. He thrashes about in an attempt to free himself from the comfortable prison that is his bed.

He eventually rises from the now catastrophe of various layers of knitted polyester, and reaches out towards the piece of technology that he was really tempted to throw against a wall.

_6:57_

He sighs as he cards his fingers through the birdnest currently making its home on top of his head, another hand perched on his hip. He stills for a moment, merely staring at his phone, numerous notifications plaguing the locked screen before he ultimately makes his way to his closet with heavy footsteps.

 

~

 

Chenle reaches the school in no less than fifteen minutes, aided by the breakfast he consumed, a nice meal of scrambled eggs, toast and a glass of orange juice, before he stepped out the door of his humble abode.

He's greeted with the sight of the gate, separating the school from the rest of the city, jarred open and various bodies bustling about at _**fucking** seven thirty on a damn Saturday._ They all had blue shirts with a logo, uniting them all under the same organization as well as unnerving smiles plastered on their face. The type of smile that overly peppy people seemed to have (almost going as far as being borderline creepy) were ever present on every single person brandishing the blue shirt.

Chenle ignored his rising curiosity of _who_ and _why_ there were a bunch of adults in a _high school_ , and continued trudging towards the third building where the side entrance of the auditorium and black box could be found.

As he twisted the handle of the door, he noticed one keen detail. A detail so important that he almost hit himself as he didn't realize it sooner. Instead of bathing in his stupidity he opted for opening the door and what greeted him merely confirmed his observation.

The third building lights were turned off.

He stared at the darkness invading his vision, the only light illuminating the hall was from where he opened the door and the windows beside said door, the natural light revealing a stockpile of desks and chairs stacked to the left of the corridor.

_What the **fuck**. _

He shook his head as if willing for the image of academic furnishings to vanish from his line of sight. _They didn't._

“Can this morning get _any_ weirder?” He mumbles to himself before he takes a tentative step forward, the door behind him closing with a loud thud.

He fumbles with his pockets, drawing out his phone and turning on its flashlight, barely lighting the hall. He treads forward, head turning in various directions to survey his surroundings as he turns to left to enter the main hall of the third building.

“Hello? Is _anybody_ there?” Chenle couldn't help but voice out, he was worried that while tip toeing about that he would run into someone in the dark and that would scare the bejeebers out of him.

Silence.

“Guess I'm the first one here.”

Toxic by Britney Spears suddenly bellows in the empty corridor, his phone starts convulsing in his hands as the screen lights up with a message.

“ _Jesus Christ!_ ”

Chenle nearly drops his phone as he hastily unlocks it, only to see that Jisung sent him a message.

 

**Chicken PwArK**

**Saturday, April 28, 2018**

Im sick

And dying

Suffer by yourself

**[7:35]**

 

**Chicken PwArK**

**Saturday, April 28, 2018**

Have fun dealing with the actors

…

Scrub

**[7:36]**

 

**Me**

**Saturday, April 28, 2018**

At least my immune system is healthy eniugh to not get sick because someone sneezed in my face

*enough

**[7:36]**

 

Chenle huffs in annoyance, not only did his heart nearly jump out of his chest but he got scared _because this bastard decided to complain about his less than ideal state of coughing his lungs out, possibly vomiting if he was **lucky**._

_Why was Jisung so fortunate, you may be possibly inquiring? Well let Chenle state out such reasons._

_First of all, he had a **justifiable** reason to not show up to ‘Saturday Tech’ meaning Mr. Park wouldn't scream his head off at him for failing to attend such an “important and essential rehearsal.” _

_Secondly he didn't have to be anywhere near an educational institute on a supposed ‘off’ day._

_Third of all, his final and arguably most important point...he **didn't** have to be in the **vicinity** of actors at sunup. _

_Nothing against the actors, honestly they were great kids and he loved them to bits but… sometimes they're a little **too** loud and a little **too** hyperactive which is definitely not ideal when you're trying to find a tape measure and **whoopsy-daisy** , one of the actors decided to use it as their personal hunting tool to chase down **other** actors. _

Now that Chenle thought about it, they _really_ liked running after each other with potentially hazardous tools-- well anything they could get their hands on really.

Like a two by four.

 

He should _really_ bring that up with Doyoung.

The light tapping his footsteps produce against the ceramic tiles reverberate in the dark, rather cold but otherwise quiet hall. He shined his flashlight on the walls of the corridor, finding countless posters advertising what may have you like auditions for the soccer team, the upcoming chorus concert, and of course, the publicity poster for the Spring Musical.

He fingers the edges of the theatre poster, tracing the outline of the paper as one thought alone bashed itself against his skull.

_How was he going to survive without Jisung?_

Yes, he had Renjun but even _then_ he felt a little empty at the notion that his partner in crime wasn't going to be attending Saturday Tech. Yes Chenle liked to _mess_ with Jisung but he very much appreciated his snarky presence… as much as he wanted to regurgitate his insides out at the very idea of _ever_ admitting that to Jisung himself.

Today was _definitely_ going to be a heavy day either because he's busy lifting pieces of wood or because he needs to take multiple pills of Advil from the raging headache he's going to earn from being in approximately twenty feet of the actors’ shenanigans.

Before he knew it he was in front of the black box at the end of the _very_ extended hallway, which was, by the way, locked… like all the classrooms situated in the third hall. He shifts his head towards the left, his eyes falling upon an exit out of the high school campus, light filtering in through the windows surrounding the door frame, enveloping him in natural sunligh--

**_Fuck._ **

He quickly ran towards the door, heading to the side where there's a little space that leads into the second entrance of the black box (locked of course), successfully hiding from the only other life form currently ten feet away from him.

His chest heaves as he remains silent and plastered to the wall, trying to remain as flat as he possibly can to avoid detection.

Chenle peeks at the door, trying to discern whether the person left or not.

They _haven't_.

But in other news at least the breathing human being is none other than Renjun, currently seated with his back towards the door… so _not_ a stranger, always good news in Chenle's opinion.

Getting over his radically beating heart at the prospect of dealing with ‘ _stranger danger_ ’, he steadily walks towards the door and in the process of opening said door, scares the _living hell out of Renjun_.

“ _Holy **shit**_ ,” Renjun clutches the collar of his shirt, his knees brought up as he rocks back and forth as if Chenle _opening_ a door scarred him for life and was now having to go to therapy sessions twice a week.

Chenle rolls his eyes at Renjun's rather dramatic display (dramatic for a techie at least), leans his body towards Renjun while still remaining mostly inside the third building resulting in Chenle gripping the door frame for dear life and in turn the door squishing him in a nice delectable Chenle sandwich whilst his legs try to make sure his body doesn't faceplant into concrete.

“Why are you outside?” Chenle wondered aloud while in the midst of his balancing act.

Renjun begins to unravel from his curled up state opting to instead rise from the _dirty_ ground, “I thought the door was closed.”

“Well now it's not.” Chenle begins to retreat inside before he leans ever so elegantly back outside, “So get your butt in here. Jisung abandoned me so you'll have to be temporary partner-in-crime.”

Renjun snorts as he follows Chenle into darkness, the door behind them shuts with such finality that the thundering sound it produces echoes within the corridor.

“Did he finally die?”

“Worse,” Chenle supplies as he leads Renjun towards the auditorium, “He's sick.”

“ _How is that worse?_ ”

Chenle hums a little, “If he died he has a _proper_ excuse to _not_ hangout with me.”

Renjun merely raises his eyebrows as he stares incredulously at Chenle most likely wondering _how in Moomin’s name did he come to **that** conclusion. _

“ _How in the **fu** \--_”

Reaching the auditorium door Chenle plops himself on the equally as gross interior floor, crossing his legs in what one would call ‘ _criss-cross applesauce_ ’ fashion all the while gazing at Renjun to do the same. He even goes as far as to pat the space next to him.

Renjun complies and seats himself, snug between Chenle and the wall, he begins to open his mouth but Chenle beats him to it.

“We’re the only ones here, I checked. Not a soul ‘round here unless you count those weird people at the front of the school.”

Renjun perks his head, “Oh you mean the Jesus people?”

“The what.”

Renjun gives Chenle a look, gesticulating his hand in circles, “You know the ones in the blue shirts?”

“Yeah, yeah I know _who_ you're talking about but _why_ are you calling them that?”

“I tried going through the front but they were mid-prayer so I dipped.” Renjun shakes his head, “Didn't want to interrupt them.”

“Huh.”

 

~

 

“IT’S EIGHT THIRTY, WHY IS NOBODY HERE.”

“The true mystery of the world,” Renjun states as he calmly sips on his Grande White Mocha coffee courtesy of walking to the Starbucks located three blocks away. The one he _got_ after realizing that it was like eight o'clock and no one else showed up, needing his daily dosage of caffeine in his system if he was going to be dealing with theatre brats.

“RENJUN, SHUT UP.”

“Well not when you put it like _that._ ” Renjun sneers as he points his pinky finger at Chenle, the rest of his fingers busy holding his life support that is also known as coffee.

“RENJUN, WOULD YOU KINDLY SHUT UP.”

Renjun continues sipping his coffee.

 

~

 

“SERIOUSLY, WHERE ARE THE--"

A obnoxious knock (more like banging) pierces the quiet atmosphere and Chenle bolts towards the offending noise, Renjun however strolls at a leisurely pace akin to a rushed snail as to not spill coffee all over the floor.

Poor janitors already deal with hormonal teenage-sized toddlers for five consecutive days, they did _not_ need Renjun clumsily sloshing his coffee around trying to keep up with Chenle… also Renjun was absolutely sure that he was going to trip over something because of the absence of light considering the hall was _still_ dark.

Chenle sprints towards the black box, makes a sharp left and almost burst into tears of joy at what greets him.

Jeno and Jaemin waiting at the door, visible through the windows and most definitely waving at Chenle… well at least Jaemin is, Jeno remains with his arms at his side, attentive as a soldier surveying Chenle with a piercing stare.

Chenle thrusted the door open nearly hitting both of them in the face with the crazy amount of force he exerted on it from the fact that _people exist and are sure as hell are partaking in Saturday Tech._

Renjun rounded the corner, “Oh hey guys, good morni--”

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!? IT'S EIGHT FORTY FIVE, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AT EIGHT…”

Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun simultaneously glance at each other, communicating through non-verbal cues also known as Jaemin mouthing ‘Is he okay,’ while pointing at Chenle and Renjun shaking his head, returning with a ‘He’s had a long morning.’

“...HONESTLY YOU PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE HUMAN BEINGS, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHOW YOUR FACES ON TIME…”

Jaemin alternates between individually looking at Jeno and then at Renjun, his head shifting back and forth before he brings a hand up to his mouth and whispers, “Who's going to tell him that the Director _always_ shows up an hour late.”

 

~

 

_8:50_

Slowly but surely actors and techies alike managed to file into the third building, either with breakfast in their hands all the while a massive grin is ever present on their faces or complete exhaustion taking over their whole body and a _not_ so pleasant expression.

The Director was going to be a _tad_ bit more late than usual considering he was commuting with a _**shit** ton of wood_ … _at least_ that's what he texted to Taeyong and Doyoung, he very well could be vacationing in the Bahamas, neglecting his academic duties as he sips on a coconut, staring at the breathtaking sunset. _Oh how Chenle wants to be the one doing that right now._

Instead, he's playing babysitter with Doyoung.

“LUCAS STOP ROLLERBLADING DOWN THE HALL.”

As if not hearing any single word that Doyoung just shouted at him, Lucas skates down the third hall a little faster as if to spite Doyoung where in reality he almost slipped on a piece of paper that was on the floor.

“Dude, you're going to bump into something _because no one bothered to turn on the **fucking** lights!_ ” Chenle added in hopes that Lucas would at least reconsider skating in the dark where a lot kids happened to be seated, the perfect pedestrian targets for a mad man on a rollerblading rampage.

“I SWEAR TO GOD LUCAS, DON'T MAKE ME TAKE OUT THE DUNCE CAP.”

Their torture finally ended when Taeyong approached them, phone in hand showing the Director's text that he was a few blocks away.

Doyoung released a breath of air, running his hands through his bangs as he tried to control his temper, “Oh thank Christ, I don't think I can handle another second of reprimanding Lucas.”

Chenle equally as worned out, sputtered, “Nobody can handle another second of Lucas period.”

Before they could continue their rant of ‘Why Lucas is a _pain in the **ass** : twenty five reasons and counting_,’ Taeyong yells down the hall, “Guys! Director's going to be here in a few, meet in the parking lot!”

After successfully informing the troupe, Taeyong takes long strides towards the black box, turns swiftly to the left and out the door where the main parking lot of the school resides, Chenle and Doyoung have no other choice but to follow him.

Eventually everybody else is congregated in the parking lot waiting for Mr. Park, and before _too_ much mayhem broke out, he drives in his little cute soccer mom van, wood attached _securely_ to the roof of his van… and by securely Chenle means that more than half of the wood was ready to detach itself from the rope binding that Mr. Park has subjected on it.

He parks his van, briskly gets out and starts unfastening the wooden planks and motions towards Johnny.

Thus starts the conveyor belt of child labor where anybody with functioning limbs is forced to carry pieces of timber into the auditorium.

Of course there were some who were _exempted_ from the hard labor like Donghyuck who very sneakily took to door-holding and cheered everyone on in a ‘mom-like’ fashion, shouting nonsense like ‘You're doing amazing sweetie~’ or ‘I have yogurt in my car when you're done!’

 

~

 

“So I'm aware many of you don't know how to build a flat,” Mr. Park addresses the teenagers who now once again inhabit his classroom, all akin to zombies considering they had to give up their beauty sleep to attend this ‘Saturday Tech’ and are all the more snappish than usual for it.

Resounding grumbles chorus in the room including a snarky, “What gave you _that_ idea?” from Donghyuck causes the director to pinch his nose in his rising frustration of dealing with ‘ungrateful brats’.

Mr. Park collects himself (counting to twenty for good measure) and his face splits into peppy grin, grotesquely exaggerated as fingers twitch at his side, definitely trying to grasp a neck to strangle… most likely Donghyuck’s.

“Thank you, Donghyuck for that _insightful_ comment,” his eyes narrow at said boy, “which is _why_ we’ll be watching a video about how to construct a flat. Sound fun?”

Mr. Park doesn't wait for the negative response he is sure to get and instead chooses to turn off the lights and play the video, _temporarily_ hushing the antsy group of high schoolers.

Emphasis on temporary because not even a second later Renjun is pestering Chenle.

At first he ignores the soft pokes that Renjun subjects him to but the “soft pokes” increase in strength until they're practically drilling into his ribcage and at this point for self preservation he humors Renjun and whispers a very harsh “What?!” making sure to convey that he is indeed a bit peeved.

Whether Renjun decided to ignore the underlying threat in Chenle's voice or not, Chenle is unsure because Renjun siddles _closer_ and even begins to whisper in his ear.

“This is ridiculous, nobody marks the wood like that, hell _I_ don't even do that.”

Chenle could _hear_ what Renjun was saying but he couldn't _process_ it. For some reason his brain decided to only focus on the way Renjun pronounced his words: the t’s sounding a lot more gruff, the m’s being more so hummed than said and his overall sentence was more breathy and raspy than usual. His breath puffed over the shell of his ear and only then did Chenle realize _how_ close Renjun was; merely a few centimeters away.

With such an enlightening piece of information, his body responded in the most natural way possibly: flushing bright red while also shoving the subject that was causing his body to react in such a way a good few inches away.

Renjun shoots him an inquisitive look and Chenle was glad the absence of light provided a shield against Renjun being able to possibly see his more than flustered state.

“I-- uh,” he coughs instead to fill in for his lack of words, hoping to god that Renjun will take that as an acceptable answer and his mind helpfully supplies a “Yeah,” just in case he _doesn't_.

Thankfully he doesn't question him further and relief floods through his system though Chenle makes sure to lightly knock his shoulders into Renjun’s as a sign that he isn't mad, offended or anything like that. Renjun merely chuckles in response, leaning into Chenle in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I don't know who I'm going to ship Chenle with, RIP me. He just so adorable with everybody THAT I DON'T KNOW AND IT'S STRESSING ME OUT. LIKE FUCK, WHO DO I CHOOSE.
> 
>  
> 
> In other news,
> 
> Is it sad that I have all their roles in theatre already decided like who's going to be in the booth during the show, who's on Stage Left and Stage Right, etc. 
> 
> I AM INVESTED IN THIS THEATRE AU AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF I DON'T SEE THIS FIC THROUGH.


End file.
